The present invention relates to a paper sheet feed mechanism which is incorporated in an OA apparatus, a finance automatic machine or the like and in which paper sheets piled up in a storage inside which paper sheets are piled up are delivered one by one from the storage, and particularly to a paper sheet feed mechanism in which the piled up paper sheets are delivered from the top thereof sequentially.
Various types of paper sheet feed mechanisms are conventionally known as the paper sheet feed mechanism as described above.
FIG. 9 is a view showing a first example of a conventional paper sheet feed mechanism.
Here, shown are a storage 200 inside which paper sheets 300 are piled up and a push-up board 402 suspended by springs 401 inside the storage 200. The paper sheets 300 are piled up on this push-up board 402, and the push-up board 402 is drawn upward by the force of the springs 401 so that the paper sheets 300 are pushed up by the push-up board 402. A feed roller 403 and a pick roller 404 are provided in an upper part of the storage 200, and the pushed up paper sheets 300 are pressed against the feed roller 403 and the pick roller 404. The feed roller 403 and the pick roller 404 rotate counterclockwise as shown by arrows F1 and F2 of the drawing so that the paper sheets 300 pressed against the feed roller 403 and the pick roller 404 are conveyed to the right direction of the drawing. In this drawing, a separator 405 provided so as to oppose to the feed roller is shown, and the paper sheets 300 conveyed to the right direction of the drawing pass between the separator 405 and the feed roller 403 while being rubbed against the separator 405. As a result of this, so-called overlap conveyance in which two or more paper sheets 300 are conveyed at one time is prevented by frictional force between the separator 405 and the paper sheets 300. The paper sheet 300 passed between the feed roller 403 and the separator 405 is conveyed to the outside of the storage 200 by conveyance rollers 406 as shown by an arrow F3 of the drawing, whereby delivery of the paper sheet 300 is completed.
In this first example, since the paper sheets 300 are pushed up by the force of the springs 401 to be pressed against the feed roller 403 and the pick roller 404, when the amount of the paper sheets 300 piled up is changed, the force by which the paper sheets 300 are pressed against the feed roller 403 and the pick roller 404 changes.
FIG. 10 is a view showing a second example of a conventional paper sheet feed mechanism.
A storage 200 is shown in this FIG. 10, and in the storage 200, a push-up board 503 driven by a motor 502 via a belt 501 is shown. In the upper part of the storage 200, a feed roller 504 similar to that of the first example is provided, and further provided are a pick roller holding lever 505 which is rotatable about the rotation axis of the feed roller 504, a pick roller 506 held by the pick roller holding lever 505, and a spring 507 urging downward the pick roller 506 along with the pick roller holding lever 505.
When the push-up board 503 is driven upward, the paper sheets 300 piled up on this push-up board 503 are pushed up by the push-up board 503 to be pressed against the feed roller 504 and the pick roller 506. The pick roller 506 against which the paper sheets 300 are pressed moves upward in accordance with that press force, and the pick roller holding lever 505 accordingly rotates. A sensor 508 detecting the magnitude of the force by which the paper sheets are pressed by detecting the position of the pick roller holding lever 505 is provided in the upper part of the pick roller holding lever 505. Based on a detection result by this sensor 508, the motor 502 is controlled by a control section which is not shown so that the belt 501 is driven as shown by arrows F4 and F5 of the drawing, whereby the pick roller 506 is pushed up so that its position is regulated as shown by an arrow F6 of the drawing. Thus, the force by which the paper sheets 300 are pressed against the pick roller 506 is stabilized.
Similar to the first example, the paper sheets 300 pressed against the feed roller 504 and the pick roller 506 are conveyed to the right side of the drawing, pass between the feed roller 504 and a separator 509, and are fed to the outside of the storage 200 by conveyance rollers 510 to complete delivery of the paper sheets.
In a paper sheet feed mechanism incorporated specifically in a finance automatic machine, it is required that delivery of paper sheets is stable even when the amount of paper sheets piled up inside the storage is variously changed or when paper sheets whose use condition is various are accommodated in the storage.
However, as described above, in the first example, when the amount of the paper sheets piled up are changed, the force by which the paper sheets are pressed against the feed roller and the pick roller changes. Therefore, when the amount of the paper sheets largely changes, delivery stability deteriorates.
In the first example and the second example described above, the overlap conveyance in which two or more paper sheets are conveyed at one time is prevented in such a manner that the paper sheet is rubbed against the separator. Since paper sheets overlapping each other are not easy to be separated, regarding new paper sheets which have just been cut, and worn-out paper sheets overlapping each other are easy to be separated, it is necessary to employ a material whose coefficient of friction is high as a material for the separator in order to surely prevent the overlap conveyance of even the paper sheets which have just been cut. However, since such material is generally soft, abrasion of a separator in which such material is employed is intense, causing a short life time. When the frictional force is large, there is a possibility that a worn-out weak paper sheet is damaged.
Further, in the first example and the second example described above, there is a possibility that it is failed to plunge the paper sheets conveyed by the pick roller between the feed roller and the separator, and as a result the paper sheets stagnate before the separator.
Concerning the above described circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a paper sheet feed mechanism in which delivery of paper sheets is stable.
A first paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention to achieve the object is, in a paper sheet feed mechanism feeding paper sheets inside a storage inside which the paper sheets are piled up one by one from the storage, comprising:
a feed roller conveying an uppermost paper sheet piled among the paper sheets piled up inside the storage to a predetermined conveyance direction by being in contact with the uppermost paper sheet and rotating,
a pick roller being positioned behind the feed roller in the conveyance direction and conveying the uppermost paper sheet with which the feed roller is in contact to the conveyance direction at a conveyance speed faster than a conveyance speed by the feed roller by being in contact with the uppermost paper sheet and rotating, and
a conveyance mechanism conveying the paper sheet fed by the feed roller and the pick roller to the outside of the storage.
Here, the conveyance mechanism and the feed roller may be one that has both roles.
With the first paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention, since the pick roller conveys the paper sheet at the conveyance speed faster than the conveyance speed of the feed roller, the paper sheet is bent and rises between the pick roller and the feed roller, and the uppermost paper sheet and the paper sheet next thereto are separated. Thus, overlap conveyance is prevented. Further, since the uppermost paper sheet is quickly conveyed toward the feed roller by the pick roller, even when the paper sheets are piled up, being in disorder a little in the horizontal direction, the uppermost paper sheet comes in contact with the feed roller surely to be conveyed by the feed roller.
In the first paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention, it is preferred that the feed roller is provided with one or more of a predetermined number of each of high friction portion(s) having a relatively high coefficient of friction and low friction portion(s) having a relatively low coefficient of friction in the circumferential face of the feed roller alternately in the circumferential direction thereof,
the pick roller is provided with one or more of a predetermined number of each of high friction portion(s) having a relatively high coefficient of friction and low friction portion(s) having a relatively low coefficient of friction in the circumferential face of the pick roller alternately in the circumferential direction thereof, and
the paper sheet feed mechanism comprises a drive mechanism driving the feed roller and the pick roller so that timing that the high friction portion of the feed roller comes in contact with the paper sheet and timing that the high friction portion of the pick roller comes in contact with the paper sheet are synchronized.
With this structure, the paper sheet can be conveyed by the conveyance mechanism when the low friction portions of both the feed roller and the pick roller are in contact with the paper sheet.
A second paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention to achieve the object is, in a paper sheet feed mechanism feeding paper sheets inside a storage inside which the paper sheets are piled up one by one from the storage, comprising:
a feed roller conveying an uppermost paper sheet among the paper sheets piled up inside the storage to a predetermined conveyance direction,
a press mechanism pressing the feed roller against a front end portion of the uppermost paper sheet among the paper sheets piled up inside the storage in the conveyance direction,
a press force regulation mechanism regulating a press force that the paper sheets receive since the feed roller is pressed against the paper sheets by the press mechanism, and
a conveyance mechanism conveying the paper sheet fed by the feed roller to the outside of the storage.
With the second paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention, since the press force is regulated by the press force regulation mechanism, feed of the paper sheets by the feed roller becomes stable, and delivery of the paper sheets also becomes stable.
In the second paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention, it is preferred that the press force regulation mechanism comprises:
a press force measuring device measuring the press force,
a push-up board pushing up the paper sheets piled up inside the storage, and
a regulation device regulating a height to which the push-up board pushes up the paper sheets in accordance with a measurement result by the press force measuring device.
With this structure, since the height to which the push-up board pushes up the paper sheets is regulated, a drastic change in the accommodation amount of the paper sheets can be dealt with.
In the second paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention, it is preferred that the feed roller is movable in a direction in which the feed roller comes in/out of contact with the uppermost paper sheet, and
the paper sheet feed mechanism comprises a separator separating the uppermost paper sheet and the paper sheet next to the uppermost paper sheet by being in contact with a lower face against an upper face of the paper sheet being conveyed which is in contact with the feed roller and imparting a frictional force when the paper sheet is conveyed by the feed roller, said separator moving, following the movement of the feed roller.
With this structure, since the separator moves, following the movement of the feed roller, separation of the paper sheets by the separator becomes stable, and the overlap conveyance can be prevented.
Further, it is preferred that the second paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention comprises a pick roller being positioned behind the feed roller in the conveyance direction and conveying the uppermost paper sheet with which the feed roller is in contact to the conveyance direction by being in contact with the uppermost paper sheet and rotating and an urge mechanism urging the pick roller to the uppermost paper sheet.
With this structure, since the pick roller is urged toward the uppermost paper sheet, even when the uppermost paper sheet is uneven, the pick roller comes in contact with the uppermost paper sheet surely to convey the paper sheet. Thus, delivery of the paper sheet becomes further stable.
As explained above, with the first paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention, since overlapped paper sheets are surely separated, delivery of the paper sheets is stable.
With the second paper sheet feed mechanism of the present invention, since the press force is stable and thus the paper sheets are conveyed stably by the feed roller, delivery of the paper sheets is stable.